Tag Archives: John Key

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Our Prime Minister defended sending New Zealand troops to Iraq to join the fight against Islamic State, in his speech at the Waitangi Marae. Mr Key attacked his critics, saying that by opposing sending New Zealand troops they are asking him to stand by and do nothing. To use his own words, “to look the other way when people are being beheaded by kids, burned by kids, and thrown off buildings.”

He’s got that wrong. No one wants him, or New Zealand, to look the other way. What we don’t want is New Zealand trotting along behind yet another US led offensive. US forays into Middle Eastern disputes in the past two decades have been spectacularly unsuccessful. Continue reading →

Oh the irony of the Prime Minister of a government whose whole trade policy revolves around not doing anything to upset China, describing the upcoming election as a contest between the centre right and far left- as though the far left is the scary part!

Labour and the Greens far left? Only in our wildest dreams. Centre right? National with coalition partners like the Conservatives and ACT. This election is potentially more like far right versus centre left. And that should cause concern to anyone but the mega wealthy. Continue reading →

Once again we are in an election year. The calls to vote out the National government are coming thick and fast. And the Alliance Party endorses them wholeheartedly. The trouble is the calls are coming from people who have never voted for National and have no intention of ever doing so. In a sense, they don’t count.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the only people who can vote out the National government are the people who voted them in. So any campaign for a change of government needs also be a campaign to change the minds of at least some of the people who voted for John Key and the National Party in the last two elections. Continue reading →

“Selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist could bring in some quick cash.” is apparently the advice offered on the subject of ‘Digging Out From Holiday Debt’ by McDonald’s McResource Line. McResource Line is a website the company runs to provide its U.S. employees with financial and health-related tips.

It seems the National government has taken their advice to heart, except that it’s not unwanted holiday gifts they are selling off, it’s our essential assets; such as power companies carefully built up by previous generations of taxpaying New Zealanders so that everyone could afford to heat their homes. Continue reading →

Prime Minister John Key is on record as saying he wishes he could raise the minimum wage to $30.00 “by this afternoon”. What an excellent idea! Mr Key goes on to say that it is just a dream that couldn’t possibly come true. But is it really? Continue reading →

The Alliance Party is amused and, quite frankly, confused, to hear John Key repeatedly refer to a possible Labour/Greens coalition as a “far left” government in the media these days.

Key bases his assessment on their new power policy which would see a government provider buying all the power from generators. However Key should ponder the fact that the state owned all aspects of power generation and the distribution of electricity right up until 1999. And no one ever described the Holyoake and Muldoon led National governments of this era as “far left” because electricity was state owned.

Not that being a “left wing” party is a bad thing. For the majority of New Zealanders, having a genuine “left wing” coalition government would be very good indeed. Continue reading →

Prime Minister John Key says that the sale of our electricity companies is on again. Good news for the wealthy few Mums and Dads with enough spare money to invest, bad news for the rest of us. Ever-increasing power price hikes are all most families have to look forward to. Continue reading →

Support Equal Pay for Aged Care Workers

Equal Pay Act and Aged Care Workers

Dear Mr Ryall and Ms Goodhew

I urge the government to tell the Aged Care Association and Terranova Homes and Care Ltd not to appeal the ruling of the Employment Court on the application of the Equal Pay Act to the wages of aged care workers.

Unfortunately because this work has largely been performed by kind hearted women, care workers are amongst the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. Care workers pay rates do not reflect the value of the work performed nor do they reflect the value society should place on our elderly receiving the best standards of care and attention.

The Employment Court ruling will change aged care for the better. It is a landmark decision and cause for celebration.

I accept that current funding levels may not be adequate for organizations to comply with the Employment Court ruling. However this is a separate issue that needs to be addressed by the government in purchasing agreements with aged care service providers. It should not be used as a reason to appeal the ruling.

New Zealanders have made it clear they want our elderly to have the best of care. I feel they would have no issue with the government paying the increased costs out of taxpayers funding if it meant aged care workers received the pay they deserve for the valuable work that they do.

Sincerely,

[signature]

This petition is now closed.

End date: Feb 28, 2014

Signatures collected: 58

Poll

We believe the power companies sold by National will have to be brought back into public ownership by the next government. How do you think this should be done?